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Old 03-19-2020, 09:50 AM   #2941
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When signing up for internet service what is the amount of data usage I should be looking at. We will have two tvs going off and on through the day. Is there a norm we should be looking at? There is a plan with download at 100mpbs and usage at 1000gb. Should I move up to 200mpbs and 2000gb. Thanks for any information on this. steve
We typically use 10-20GB/day. This is with one TV in use at a time. A typical day would be 1-3 hours working out and 3 hours in the evening. The main TV in the evening uses 4K Netflix/Prime Video when the source supports it. The 4K rate appears to be 3-5 times the non-4K.
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Old 03-19-2020, 11:09 AM   #2942
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When signing up for internet service what is the amount of data usage I should be looking at. We will have two tvs going off and on through the day. Is there a norm we should be looking at? There is a plan with download at 100mpbs and usage at 1000gb. Should I move up to 200mpbs and 2000gb. Thanks for any information on this. steve
You say "data usage", which usually means a monthly account cap or allowance, but then you also use Mbps, which is raw speed per second. So I'll try to address both, but first the numbers will definitely vary depending on whether you have 4K TVs and stream 4K resolution content, or not.

For speed, 15-25Mbps is usually enough for one 4K stream. If you expect both TVs to be streaming UHD/Blu-ray quality at the same time, 15-20Mbps is enough; if you want both to be able to stream 4K at the same time, I would recommend 40 or 50Mbps speeds. (ref: Lifewire) So the 100Mbps plan is more than enough for even 4 TVs steaming 4K content at the same time.

For usage, a 4K movie will usually eat up between 5 and 10GB of data per hour. If you're watching ONLY 4K, the 100/1000 plan would let you watch 100-200 hours per month (total, so 50-100 per TV) (ref: Consumer Reports, subscription required). Streaming 1080/HD content is probably 4-5GB/hr, so more like 100-120 hours total (Ref: Gizmodo). For a 30-day month, 100 hours is about 3.5 hours a day of 4K streaming, for reference, and that's between TVs.

So it seems to me that the data caps could be the problem, but only if you watch everything in 4K.
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Old 03-19-2020, 11:15 AM   #2943
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100 mb/s is already overkill for streaming. I suspect that 1 TB/month is also sufficient. Consider starting at the lower level and upgrading if needed.


ETA: If concerned check to see if your provider is waiving data caps at this time.
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Old 03-19-2020, 11:50 AM   #2944
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Cosmic Avenger and Kwirk thanks for the great information. Presently with cable but they are planning a big increase when they come and put a "box" on each tv in the house and a rate increase so just wanted to try to be ready to just tell them to not bother and I found internet promo for new customers but I didn't know the data and speed need to stream. All new stuff. Thanks steve
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Old 03-19-2020, 11:55 AM   #2945
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Someguy thanks for the information...…..steve
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Old 03-19-2020, 01:28 PM   #2946
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I've posted before, but we have 300/300 mbps with a 1 TB cap. We have 1-2 HD TV's and 1-2 mobile devices going for many hours per day plus a couple other devices. We have never been anywhere near 1TB - might have gotten into the 700GB range a few times, but usually 500-600 GB is more than enough. You'd have to watch a hell of a lot of TV, or mostly 4K to reach 1TB IME. 4K will chew thru data about 4 times faster than most HD. So 1 TB may not be enough some day, but that's years away for most people.
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Old 03-19-2020, 03:02 PM   #2947
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We typically use 10-20GB/day. This is with one TV in use at a time. A typical day would be 1-3 hours working out and 3 hours in the evening. The main TV in the evening uses 4K Netflix/Prime Video when the source supports it. The 4K rate appears to be 3-5 times the non-4K.
I just checked and MTD, we're at around 450GB total. Looking at day by day, we are now in the 20-35GB/day range since increasing quarantine restrictions have been taking effect.
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Old 03-20-2020, 07:05 AM   #2948
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Really helpful information thank you...…steve
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Old 03-20-2020, 07:49 AM   #2949
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On a different note, those of you who subscribe to one of the higher priced streaming services (YTTV, Hulu Live, etc) to watch sports can save a few bucks by switching to less expensive services such a Philo. No sense in paying for all those sports channels now that virtually all sports have been canceled.
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Old 03-20-2020, 07:57 AM   #2950
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A number of internet providers are suspending data caps for a bit because of the coronavirus crisis. I know ATT has eliminated cap penalties for 60 days. The link below is an article that lists a number of the changes.
https://www.cnet.com/news/carriers-a...g-coronavirus/
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:10 AM   #2951
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On a different note, those of you who subscribe to one of the higher priced streaming services (YTTV, Hulu Live, etc) to watch sports can save a few bucks by switching to less expensive services such a Philo. No sense in paying for all those sports channels now that virtually all sports have been canceled.
Good point.

However, YTTV and Hulu are the only streaming services that offer all the local broadcast networks. Philo has none. Sling has some. YTTV is the only one with PBS. We can't get OTA, so that's the main reason we subscribe to YTTV. Sports is important but secondary.

A few months ago, I did a trial of Philo + Locast, all running through the Fitzy TV app with cloud DVR (total $30/mo). It worked fine but we rejected it mainly due to no regional Fox sports. But now that could be a viable option, at least for a while.
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:25 AM   #2952
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Good point.

However, YTTV and Hulu are the only streaming services that offer all the local broadcast networks. Philo has none. Sling has some. YTTV is the only one with PBS. We can't get OTA, so that's the main reason we subscribe to YTTV. Sports is important but secondary.

A few months ago, I did a trial of Philo + Locast, all running through the Fitzy TV app with cloud DVR (total $30/mo). It worked fine but we rejected it mainly due to no regional Fox sports. But now that could be a viable option, at least for a while.
If you have a tv that will allow streaming from a pc or phone (such as one that has chromecast). Then at least for local news already many stations have live streamed their news to the web. If that works where you are you can get that echoed to the tv (in particular vizio tvs do this). This does not help for network programming on the local station however.
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Old 03-21-2020, 05:33 PM   #2953
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When signing up for internet service what is the amount of data usage I should be looking at. We will have two tvs going off and on through the day. Is there a norm we should be looking at? There is a plan with download at 100mpbs and usage at 1000gb. Should I move up to 200mpbs and 2000gb. Thanks for any information on this. steve
Do you expect to run a lot of 4K streams?

A lot of Netflix shows and many Amazon Prime shows have 4K streaming options.

Otherwise, unless you do large downloads, I think you will be okay with the lower cap.

Fox streamed the Superbowl in 4K and someone said it took a total of 30-40 GB for the whole game. I think the Netflix and Amazon Prime 4K streams don't use as high bitrates.

But if you're leaving the TV going in the background with 4K content, it could be an issue at just 1 TB cap.
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Old 03-22-2020, 05:08 AM   #2954
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I have an extensive OTA system. Just replaced my old (5 1/2 year old) 2-Tuner Tablo OTA DVR with a new Tablo 4-tuner. The old Tablo worked fine. I just suspected after 5 1/2 years, I should replace the hard drive before it had its MTBF. 5 Tvs on main level, all with streaming devices. 2 on guest level.

Anyhow, in the fall, I had signed up for YTTV in anticipation of sports. Well, we all know what happened a few weeks ago. So when this month runs out, it is bye-bye. Here is where we will be: Netflix, Amazon Prime, amazing amount of free movies on youtube, OTA recordings.

From our location, we get OTA - NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CW and a host of the subs.
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Old 03-22-2020, 05:25 AM   #2955
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When signing up for internet service what is the amount of data usage I should be looking at. We will have two tvs going off and on through the day. Is there a norm we should be looking at? There is a plan with download at 100mpbs and usage at 1000gb. Should I move up to 200mpbs and 2000gb. Thanks for any information on this. steve
100mbps should be more than enough even with two 4K TVs.
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Old 03-22-2020, 06:38 AM   #2956
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I don't do 4k, but I have 60MBPs service and can stream 3 TVs, run my internet radio and use my computer all at the same time without any buffering.
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Old 03-22-2020, 06:40 AM   #2957
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I don't do 4k, but I have 60MBPs service and can stream 3 TVs, run my internet radio and use my computer all at the same time without any buffering.
Tell me more about your internet radio. A service? A specific station?
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Old 03-22-2020, 09:11 AM   #2958
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Tell me more about your internet radio. A service? A specific station?
FWIW, I use a Grace Digital (https://gracedigital.com/) "Encore +" radio (https://gracedigital.com/shop/encoreplus/) in my office. With the Home Theater, I use the (Yamaha RX-A3080) AVR's built-in Net Radio feature. I use Alexa most other places (kitchen, shop, etc.) Of course, any smart phone can make it very mobile... and personal.

One can, also, use a Internet-connected PC by going to the Radio Station's home page - KUVO.org or WWOZ.org, for instance.
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Old 03-22-2020, 10:03 AM   #2959
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Tell me more about your internet radio. A service? A specific station?
I listen to free KFI talk radio on my 1st generation Amazon Echo since AM signal is bad where I live. I just say Alexa play KFI and she responds with getting your KFI station from I Heart radio. They have 2000 internet stations but there are lots of other apps as well. i also ask her to play silly kids songs (They are great dance songs) and toddler songs when my 2 and 3 years old grandkids are over, they love it. Alexa pulls most from I Heart Radio and some from Amazon Music, I don't pay for any subscription. You can also play these on your TV with video as well if you have the cube or firestick hooked up.
The trick is to figure out how to ask for what you want so she understands and sometimes that can be a little challenging. I tried to get a UK radio station once and she kept giving me some other US station with similar call letters.
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Old 03-22-2020, 10:08 AM   #2960
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iHeartRADIO Alexa/Echo voice commands

https://help.iheart.com/hc/en-us/art...Voice-Commands
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